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May 27, 1998

Bradley says it’s time to stop talk and start to fix the nation’s ills

With Sankey’s unequivocal blessing Bradley was formally endorsed by the P.U.P. Queen’s Square Committee. It then remained for the new candidate to have his first face off with the media. The obvious question was why? Why would a man trade a powerful nationwide platform in radio and television for a chance to wrestle in the muddy drain known as politics?

Dickie Bradley, P.U.P. Candidate, Queen’s Square

“It is an enormous sacrifice but the time has come when all of us have to step forward and do something otherwise the Belize that will go into the next century will not be the country we thought we knew only a couple years ago.

The institutions in Belize are in fact collapsing around us. We are losing sight of important goals. People especially the young people, they have no future in Belize. The Belize that is shaping up around us is not a nice place to look at.

The south side of Belize City is a disgraceful soul and the whole of this country. Bad as things are bad in some of dey other districts particularly say Dangriga and increasingly Orange Walk, they are nothing compared to what is happening in the south side of Belize City. That is almost like it is not a part of this country.”

Q: “Dickie a lot of people who have followed, particularly your Wednesday night radio show for many years, have noticed that it has taken on a tone increasingly critical of the Government but even more specifically increasingly critical of Dean Barrow. The charge has to be out there that you knew all along that you were running against Dean and you were building a campaign against him. Is this true?”

Dickie Bradley

“No, it is not true. God being my witness up until a few weeks ago it was not true. In fact my whole life is basically being turned upside down with what has happened here this morning which is still rather sudden in some respects.”

Q: “When it comes to pet peeves that you have with the People’s United Party, things like charges of corruption in the past, things, some of the same kinds of things that you are accusing the U.D.P. of because the P.U.P. was in there for their time as well. How comfortable are you going to be not being able to speak about those things when someone like myself in the media ask you about those faults?”

Dickie Bradley

“Who wa stop me from talk the truth Stewart? Who can say to me I cannot speak what is on my conscience. I have to live with myself; I have to sleep with myself at night. I think we need to remember this. I think perhaps the best way for me to put this is that this People’s United Party is not the previous People’s United Party. I lived under George Price; I lived under Esquivel. It’s time for us to have a new Prime Minister – Said Musa. They have had their chance. They have done what they thought they would do. They have made their errors. The country has to move on; Esquivel has to give way to somebody who is far more intelligent and who is more dynamic and who has a vision to carry the country into the new century. That is what this is all about. Yes, I am a harsh critic of the People’s United Party and if they make errors in the future I will continue to criticize them but that is not the issue. The issue is that the two major political parties in the country are getting ready for an election and one of those parties has proven that it cannot remain in power; it cannot after what we are experiencing in Belize.

I know that there will come a couple of Wednesday nights and Thursday nights when I look at some show and say I would have ask a different question if I was there. But the time come for Dickie Bradley to stop deh pah the radio and T.V. complaining and criticizing and to step forward and start to do something for the people who have been saying you di get wah raw deal, you are being treated as if you don’t count. And the party which I am associating myself with now had better be that party because I am leading a relatively successful law firm. I can always say this is not what we were talking about, goodbye my brother, goodbye.”

While Dickie may discover that saying goodbye is not as easy as it seems, there is one farewell that he will reluctantly be making this week. By mutual agreement Bradley and the management of Channel Five have recognized that hosting a TV talk show during an election year and being a candidate in that election are mutually exclusive activities. Beginning Thursday night, and running for an indefinite period, Dickie will be replaced as host of “One on One” by FM 2000 radio personality, Stuart Leslie. Stuart’s first guest will be none other than recently nominated political candidate… Dickie Bradley.

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